"Tuckamore County was located about a half days journey from London, by horse and cart. It was a wonderful county with rich farmlands and grazing pastures, far away from the dirt and filth that was London at that time.
There were ten families that farmed in the Tuckamore County.
There were 2 families of Tuckers, 2 families of Johnstones, 2 families of Pikes and of course there were the Dove families and there were 4 of us. To get into all the names would be a tedious labour so we will leave it at that."
"So there were no Rideouts or Simpsons on the Rose?" Matty wondered.
Issac shook his head.
"No they came much later. They married into the Bay, once other bays and coves were homestead."
He put his pipe in the corner of his mouth.
"The local magistrate, as I said was Magistrate Campbell. As Matty would say he was a pain in my ass.
Tuckamore Bay was one of the richest of the counties around London and we supplied about 20 percent of the fresh root vegetables and beef, pork and chickens to the London markets. We also paid more than our fair share of taxes as well. But therein lay the beginning of our issues."
"Greed?" Bill suggested. "And perhaps jealousy?"
Issac nodded.
"That would be it William. But it were not the greed of the King.
King George lll was a fair King and he did not ask more than for us to pay our fair share of the taxes, but the taxes were collected by Magistrate Campbell and as each season came, our tax would increase.
Being the Elder of Tuckamore County, I had an audience with the King and brought my concerns to his attention. He assured me that he would dispatch a royal messenger to the Magistrate and demand an audience, so that our concerns could be raised with him.
Several months passed. I did not get an answer from King George, but I did from Magistrate Campbell. And quite an answer it was.
He presented me with a Royal Decree stating that he had the consent of the King to once again raise our taxes. Although we had never been presented with such a decree before.
Needless to say, that did not sit well with me or the other families and once again I was off to see the King. He informed me that Magistrate Campbell had asked for a small increase in the taxes and he had approved, based on the need to recruit more soldiers for the army. There was uneasy times with France, as always.
But the increase that the King informed me of was less than what had actually been inflicted on us. It seems that Magistrate Campbell had altered the document to satisfy his own needs. The King agreed to, once again, have an audience with Magistrate Campbell, but it would not be in the foreseeable future, as France was once again threatening war.
So, when I returned with the news, the families decided that it was time we exposed Magistrate Campbell for the scoundrel that he was. We approached the Magistrate with our concerns and knowledge and he assured us that all was legal and he was acting under the direct orders and protection of the King.
It was a short time after that meeting, that I was approached by the wife of young Malcolm Pike. She informed me that her husband had met privately with Magistrate Campbell and she was concerned as to what had transpired, especially since she had found a bag of gold coins hidden in their barn. When she confronted her husband, he became very violent and beat her, threatening her that if she spoke of what she had found to anyone, he would kill her.
She also informed me that the Magistrate had requested a unit of the King's Guards to help him deal with the rumour of an uprising in the neighbouring county of Glenhaven. But it had nothing to do with Glenhaven. Magistrate Campbell had his sights set on Tuckamore County and he was going to use the King's own Guards to secure the lands."
"Well, Poppy Issac, dat Campbell sounds like 'es was a real fucker," Nanny Dove commented, nonchalantly.
"A fucker?"
He thought for a moment.
"A fornicator under the consent of the King?"
Matty laughed.
"The meaning of the word has long since changed, Poppy Dove. We use the word fuck or fucker as a very vulgar description of someone who is a prick."
"Prick? Does that not mean, to pinch or to stick holes in something?"
"Not any more. It is now another so called vulgar word to mean someone who is a real worthless pain in the ass or a complete and utter idiot," Matty informed him.
"We have developed some colourful language since you were alive."
"So it seems. But to agree with Matilda and to use your vulgar words. Magistrate Campbell was a fucker prick.
Is that the right usage?"
"Close enough," Bill assured him.
"I think we all get the point you are trying to make."
Issac continued.
"Well we hid the young wife of Malcolm Pike and we devised a plan. We knew that if Magistrate Campbell came to Tuckamore County with the King's Guard, he would have the right to seize our lands."
"Den he does be a fucker prick," Nanny Dove snapped.
"So I went to King George once again and I asked him to give me a Land Decree for the New Found Land. I informed him that several of the younger married couples of Tuckamore County wanted to venture to the New Found Land and set up homestead. At that time, it was not an unusual request and the King was eager to have the lands settled as there were rich fishing grounds around the island.
And he wanted to get homesteaders there before the French or Italians did."
Matty suddenly got excited.
"We have a copy of that Decree."
Issac looked surprised.
"It still exists?"
Matty nodded.
"It was in the archives, in London. We had a certified copy courier to us."
"All the way from London. That must have been an undertaking?"
Matty shook her head.
"Not any more Poppy Dove. With faxes and emails and overnight couriers, it only took a couple days."
Issac sighed.
"For certain, times have changed."
He puffed on his pipe and sighed, as he continued his story.
"So, as you must know, the Decree was issued in my name and I would offer it to the young couples. But the truth was that the heads of the 10 families of Tuckamore County were already planning a different option.
We had decided that we would commission a merchant ship to take us to the New Found Land, but once a sea and far enough from England we would inform the Captain that we had changed our minds and we would instead continue to Boston.
We commissioned the Emily Rose from the Cartwell Merchant Company of Liverpool. They regularly went to the Far East, but they agreed, for a large sum, to allow one of their ships to venture to the new world.
The Emily Rose was large enough that we could not only assure the passage of all families, but also room for us to also bring enough livestock and root vegetables to assure we would have a fresh start once we reached Boston.
Of course we did not inform young Malcolm Pike of our intentions and when we were ready to venture to Tuckamore Harbour, to load the Emily Rose, we sent him off to London to secure us seed for the following planting season."
"Sounds like it would have been quite an undertaking," Bill suggested, already knowing much of the rest of the story.
"How many people were involved?"
"The ten families had seventy-four members all told. Well seventy-three, as young Malcolm Pike would not be accompanying us.
And we were bringing 100 head of livestock and 100 chickens, as well as personal belongings and of course our family fortunes, mostly in gold and silver coin, but with other gold and silver heirlooms, as well as some precious gems."
Matty got us both a beer and sat back down, next to me on the couch.
"So everything went as plan, it seems."
"So it would seem, Matty. But things are not always as they seem and no matter how well a plan one could put in place there was always the chance of some ...
could I use the word fuck here somehow?"
Bill laughed.
"Well if things went wrong, then we would say they got fucked up."
Issac smiled slightly.
"Then, William, things got really fucked up."